Just like a restaurant!　If you are looking for a bright and comfortable Trekkie shop, you can find it at "Dragon Star Akihabara Ekimae Store" (Shun Gori's 11th visit to Akiba).

Akihabara continues to evolve day by day. The "Shun Gori's Akiba Exploration" started with the goal of creating a "Map of Akihabara," but the recent trading card (TCG) boom has made it impossible not to cover the increasing number of card shops in Akihabara, so we have been visiting card shops in Akihabara one after another since the 8th issue of the magazine. We have been visiting card shops in Akihabara since the 8th issue of this series.

This time, we visited DRAGONSTAR Akihabara Ekimae Store, the store in front of Akihabara Station of DRAGONSTAR, which has 14 stores all over Japan.

DRAGONSTAR Akihabara Ekimae Store is located on the 6th floor of a building right in front of JR Akihabara Station, just outside the Electric Town Exit on the UDX side. It is less than a minute's walk from the ticket gate, so you will not get lost even in Akihabara, where it is difficult to find a store if you are not familiar with the city.

After getting off the elevator on the 6th floor and entering the store, one's first impression is that it is very bright and clean. The aisles between the showcases where cards are displayed are wide, and due to the high ceiling, you do not feel oppressed at all. Recently, the number of female TCG fans has been increasing, and I have the impression that even women can shop here with ease.

The TCGs sold here range from the standard "Pokémon Card Game (a.k.a. Pokéka)," "Yu-Gi-Oh," and "Weiss Schwarz" to "Magic: The Gathering," which sparked the TCG boom, and the latest "ONE PIECE Card Game.

In particular, "ONE PIECE Card Game" seems to be quite difficult to obtain in the market today, but the abundant inventory on display shows the high volume of purchases.

Magic: The Gathering" also has a full lineup of both international and domestic editions, and we saw many purchasers when we visited the store.

One of the most unique features of the store is its special feature section. At the time of the interview, there was a showcase featuring "Yu-Gi-Oh," which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and a corner featuring only "Pikachu" and "Lizardon" from "Pokéka," allowing customers to look at cards from a different perspective than usual.

As is standard in card stores these days, an inventory search system is also set up. The inventory list is clearly organized by card type, making it easy to find the card you want from the huge inventory. Once you find the card you want from the search system, you can place your order and pay at the cashier. The order can be cancelled if the condition of the card is not satisfactory.

The store also carries a full lineup of sleeves and cases, which are necessities for TCGs, and even sells sheets to protect playmats, which are rarely seen at other stores.

In addition, DRAGONSTAR's original product is a case that can protect an entire box of TCGs. The fact that they have such a lineup shows that they are focusing on the customer's point of view.

In one section of the store, there is a "33 yen per card flat rate corner," where a large number of boxes containing random cards that have been bought or traded in the day before are placed.

This corner is very popular, and even just after the store opened, many customers were enjoying searching for cards as if they were treasure hunters.

The duel space is spacious, with 80 seats.

The manager told us that the duel space was so comfortable and cozy that we asked him about the secret to its comfort and cleanliness.

After hearing this story, I took another look at the duel space and was convinced by the spacing between the seats, the arrangement of the desks, and the careful cleaning.

There are events held almost every day in this duel space, and some of them are free of charge, but some of them offer prizes, so whether you are a skilled duelist or a duel novice, you may want to try your hand at it.

On the walls of the store, cards that are being bought at high prices are clearly posted, so you can check here to see how much your collection can be bought for.

Of course, since we are a card store, we also handle new card packs and decks. Those with stable distribution can also be bought in boxes, so those who are bulk buyers can also rest assured.

Some of the items are for overseas markets or TRPG rulebooks, so if you are interested in rare cards or TRPGs, it is fun to look for them.

And speaking of card stores, "original packs (Oripa)" are available.
A vending machine dedicated to Oripa is located near the entrance of the store, so why not try your luck?

View of Akihabara Station Square from the stairs of DRAGONSTAR Akihabara Ekimae Store

For the 11th installment of Shungori's Akiba Exploration, we visited Dragon Star Akihabara Ekimae Store.

The number of card types and card stores continues to increase every day, but wouldn't your TCG life be enhanced if you have a comfortable card store that you feel at home in?　We recommend DRAGONSTAR AKIHABARA EKIMAE as a candidate for such a "home" card store. Please take a look at DRAGONSTAR AKIHABARA EKIMAE STORE.

We will keep adding more and more Akiba information, so please look forward to it!

You can also see YouTuber Shun Gori's activities on YouTube. He is appearing in various places, mainly talking about Taiwan, where he used to immigrate, so please check out his YouTube channel as well!

# YouTuber Shun Gori

Store Information

Store Name：DRAGONSTAR AKIHABARA EKIMAE

Address： BiTO AKIBA PLAZA 6F, 1-18-18 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku

Phone number：03-3527-1289

Opening hours: Weekdays: 13:00 - 21:00

　　　　　Saturday: 10:00 - 21:00

　　　　　Sundays and holidays: 10:00 - 20:00

Official page: https://dorasuta.jp/shop/detail?scd=12

Store MAP